Chapter 19
This is Chapter 19 from the Ouran Highschool Host Club manga series. Chapter Summary Chapter 19 occurs right after Tamaki has lost the "refreshing" competition to the Hitachiin twins. With a heavy heart, he has no choice but to stay at a different summer house, which happens to be Honey's. Annoyed, Tamaki tries to call the Hitachiin twins again, after going through the entire night anxiously thinking about yesterday. Tamaki tries to wake Kyoya (who's also staying at Honey's) up to help him "save" Haruhi, but he is promptly scared off at Kyoya's bad temper from being woken up. Meanwhile, at the pension where Haruhi is working at, the twins come downstairs, arguing about trivial things like getting pushed off the bed. They demand classy, preferential things for breakfast, which Haruhi responds dryly to. Tamaki suddenly appears, looking superior and chastising the brothers. He then follows up his chiding by serving equally classy breakfast. It's revealed that Tamaki arrived so early (due to his worry for Haruhi) that he ended up having Misuzu (pension owner/transvestite) teach him how to cook everything. Tamaki proceeds to procure a "vacation guide" for the twins and Haruhi and he begs Haruhi not to treat him as a senpai during the vacation, due to his wanting to be labeled a friend (note: In Japan, people speak more comfortably with friends of the same age, hence Tamaki's desire to be like a "classmate" with Haruhi). The twins and Haruhi look over his vacation guide dubiously, pausing at a certain rule regarding early wake up and stating that there's no way Kyoya and Honey, both known for being bad-tempered when waking up, would abide by this rule. This sends Tamaki into his typical little depression state, when suddenly, a delivery arrives for groceries. Misuzu notes that the delivery boy isn't the same person, and when Misuzu asks Haruhi to put the groceries in the fridge, the boy pauses and looks up in surprise. He introduces himself as Arai after hearing Haruhi's name, and the two have a sudden reunion. The twins and Tamaki are left to look on in wonder as they realize Arai was Haruhi's old middle school classmate. When Haruhi introduces Tamaki and the twins, she sends Tamaki into further despair when he doesn't address him as senpai (because she remembered his request) but simply "acquaintance", naively making Tamaki look like a stranger. As Arai and Haruhi catch up with each other, the other Host Club members make remarks about Haruhi and her middle school life. Tamaki stews on the side, ripping up trash for a "hamster home" and sorrowfully moaning about how he's merely an acquaintance. This cracks Arai up, who states that he figured the rich and elite would be very different, and that they're surprisingly funny. The twins watch on the side, growing increasingly jealous of how well Arai and Haruhi are hitting it off, and commenting about his "refreshing" attitude snarkily. Hikaru bluntly announces that it's obvious Arai is attracted to Haruhi and that he's getting annoying, which angers Haruhi. However, Arai simply remaks in favor of Hikaru, saying that yes, Haruhi had rejected him in middle school anyways so he's over it. Haruhi has no idea what he's talking about and in typical Haruhi fashion, looks shocked along with the rest of the Host Club members. Then, Arai goes into flashback story mode. Flashback to middle school, and Arai is seen chasing Haruhi down the hall. He breathlessly asks her if she's trying out for Ouran Highschool's scholarship test, and she responds in affirmation. When Arai states that he wanted to go to the same highschool with her, Haruhi remarks plainly that he should have told her earlier. Even when Arai finally shouts that he wants to go out with Haruhi, she just cluelessly responds that sure, they can go outside. Back in the present, the Host Club looks at Haruhi disbelievingly, with Kyoya stating that she broke his fragile heart with her insensitivity, and Haruhi dryly remarking that she had no idea. She apologizes to Arai (one year later from the incident) and he accepts the apology graciously, going on to talk about her appealing aspects (eg. her sincere eyes and demeanor). As the Host Club and Arai start up a conversation, the twins are sitting on the side observing them. Kaoru asks Hikaru if they should join them since it looks like fun, but Hikaru refuses, remarking how stupid it was for Tamaki to fall for Arai's stories. He loudly proclaims that Arai's tales are dumb and that he doesn't care for him anyways, and in response, he gets a slap from an infuriated Haruhi. Hikaru responds angrily, demanding that since he's her friend, he doesn't need to care about others. After Hikaru runs off in anger, Tamaki notes that their (twins) world is still very small. Kaoru tries talking things through with Hikaru, chiding him about his ungracious behavior, and encouraging him to go apologize to Arai. When Arai is leaving, Hikaru comes out and apologizes. However, after Arai rides away, Haruhi looks at "Hikaru" and asks him (in reality, Kaoru) why he's pretending to be Hikaru. Kaoru simply says it will take time for Hikaru to come around, and he ends the conversation menacingly, asking Haruhi for a favor. Kaoru is shown later sleeping, and he tells Hikaru that he caught a cold from sleeping on the floor yesterday. Kaoru rejects calling a doctor, but instead asks Hikaru for a favor, wondering if Hikaru will take Haruhi out on a date that he promised her the day before. Haruhi and Hikaru prepare to go out on a date, and Kaoru is seen secretly looking on with happiness, while Tamaki sighs and asks him why he faked a cold. Kaoru responds that its all about growing up... Navigation Category:Chapters